Irish designer Laura Weber recently made headlines when she was revealed as the talent behind Team Ireland’s Olympic formalwear.
Originally from Dublin, the NCAD-graduate left Ireland in 2012, sky-rocketing her way up the career ladder, jumping from London Fashion Week to New York’s Garmet District in quick succession.
In 2019, she cemented herself in the fashion industry by founding, LW Pearl, alongside her partner Joseph Rein.
While LW Pearl Atelier sees the two working with high-end designers to create couture embellishments for pieces worn by Dr. Jill Biden and Rihanna, LW Pearl Athleisure allows the duo to create a sustainably-minded range of lifestyle pieces.
With this long-list of achievements behind her, and having once embroidered some of Team USA’s Olympic kit for Ralph Lauren, Weber decided to put in her bid to represent Ireland in the style stakes.
In 2023, she finally got the nod, leading her to dress some the country’s most impressive athletes for the hotly-anticipated opening and closing ceremonies.
“I think the real deciding factor was that I’ve done this so many times,” she told RTÉ Lifestyle. “I’ve made uniforms for so many different people, I’ve made clothes for 12 years, and this was just a really big project that I thought was amazing. I just really felt it was the perfect opportunity to work with amazing people.”
“The initial meeting was 2020,” she adds, “so it’s been in the works for three years and eight months.”
With 2024 marking Ireland’s 100 years at the Olympic Games, Weber and her team had a century of uniforms to study.
“We went to so many libraries and did so much research around the symbolic meaning behind Irish motifs and what Ireland really is, and how the world portrays Ireland,” she explains. “It was a huge deep dive into the sentimentality of symbolism within our country.”
Before long, the designer landed on a series of detailed looks that would meld practical elements (open-back vents and mesh linings) with heart-warming symbolism (hand-sewn names and shamrock brooches).
So far, the most talked-about feature of the jackets has been the embroidered crests. Using a ‘refreshed’ colour palette, Weber redesigned the traditional county crests with new symbolism, allowing the athletes to showcase their home counties.
“People forget that the athletes are not together as a team beyond the Olympic village,” she explains. “It was really about creating a bonding moment for the athletes because some of them had never met.”
The athletes, it seems, were at the forefront of Laura’s mind when it came to each and every design choice.
From adapting vintage opera pockets to fit modern smartphones, to adding lucky charms that could be kept as mementos, the designer tried to put herself into the all-important shoes of the athletes.
“I was really thinking through what the experience would be for them,” she insists, “even down to how [the uniform] would break the ice and how it will unite them when they come together.”
“Every single day – not a word of a lie – I woke up and said, ‘How will the athletes feel about this decision? How would the athletes want this decision to be portrayed?’.
“It was always about the athletes. It was always for them.”
Given the late confirmation of some qualifiers, manufacturing and fitting will continue right until the 11th hour, meaning that Weber will remain in Paris to make any necessary last-minute adjustments.
Working with the athletes during one of the most exciting and tense times of their lives has given the homegrown talent even more insight to the people behind the potential medals.
“They are just the best humans,” she insists. “I’ve never met people like these athletes. Their sheer determination and their pride in representing Ireland, and just their personalities are unmatched. I’ve never met kinder people, I wish everyone got to meet this team.”
“I’m so delighted Ireland is getting this moment,” she continues. “It’s about time that the world recognises what we have, and the skill and talent that we have here. I’m so delighted the athletes have been getting so much coverage and press because it’s what they deserve.”
Read more: Team Ireland’s Olympic formal wear inspired by Sonia O’Sullivan